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Spirituality

How do different religions view God?

One question. Nine perspectives. Original sources.

Hand-checked editorial pageWritten and citation-checked by Anthoney Hamrick, Founder and editor, The Faith VaultLast citation review Not yet reviewed by a scholar of every tradition — see who has, and who we are looking forReport a correction

Overview

This is the question on which the nine traditions differ most fundamentally. Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith affirm one God beyond all likeness; Christianity affirms one God known as Trinity; Hinduism ranges from one supreme reality with many forms to devotion to a single Lord; Buddhism does not teach a creator; Taoism speaks of the nameless Tao; and Shinto of innumerable kami. The Guide reports these views as each tradition states them.

Nine perspectives

Christianity

From scripture

Christianity affirms one God who is love and spirit, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit — the Trinity. Christians believe God is made known most fully in Jesus Christ, whom the New Testament presents as the Word made flesh. The Trinity was formalised at the councils of the fourth century; non-Trinitarian Christian groups exist but are a minority.

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Islam

From scripture

Islam's foundation is tawhid, the absolute oneness of God: God is one, neither begets nor is begotten, and nothing is like Him. God is known through His names and attributes — the Merciful, the Compassionate, the All-Knowing — and through revelation, but His essence is beyond human comprehension. The Trinity and any association of partners with God are rejected.

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Judaism

From scripture

The Shema declares the Lord is one. God in Judaism is the creator who is beyond image or form, who reveals His name to Moses as 'I am who I am', and who acts in history through covenant. Maimonides' principles stress God's unity and incorporeality; Jewish mystical traditions speak of God's hiddenness and His attributes (sefirot) without compromising unity.

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Buddhism

From scripture

Buddhism does not teach a creator God. Deities (devas) exist within its cosmology but are impermanent beings subject to karma; the Buddha is a teacher, not a god. The Pali discourses treat belief in an eternal creator as one view among many and, in places, gently satirise it. Liberation comes through one's own practice, with the Buddha's teaching as guide.

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Hinduism

From scripture

Hinduism contains many views. The Rig Veda says 'Truth is one; the wise call it by many names.' The Upanishads speak of Brahman, the one ultimate reality, and its relation to the inner self (atman). The Gita presents Krishna as the supreme Lord pervading all things. Advaita sees God and self as ultimately one; Vaishnava and Shaiva traditions worship a personal supreme God; many Hindus revere deities as forms of the one.

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Sikhism

From scripture

Sikhism opens its scripture with the Mool Mantar: One Universal Creator, whose Name is Truth, Creative Being, without fear, without hatred, timeless in form, beyond birth, self-existent, known by the Guru's grace. God is one, formless, present in all creation and beyond it, and is not incarnated. God is equally the God of all humanity, whatever their religion.

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Bahá'í Faith

From scripture

Bahá'ís affirm one God, the unknowable Essence, exalted beyond every human attribute, who is known only through His Manifestations — Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. These Manifestations reflect God's attributes like mirrors reflecting the sun; the religions they founded are one religion revealed progressively.

  • Gleanings XIX — 'God, the unknowable Essence... is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute.'
  • Gleanings XXVII — The Manifestations as mirrors of God's attributes.
  • Kitáb-i-Íqán — Progressive revelation and the unity of the Prophets.
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Taoism

From scripture

Taoism speaks not of God but of the Tao — the nameless source and pattern of all things, prior to heaven and earth, which cannot be defined without being lost. The Tao Te Ching describes it as the mother of the ten thousand things and as giving birth to One, then Two, then Three. Religious Taoism venerates many deities, but these are within the Tao rather than its creator.

  • Tao Te Ching 1 — The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
  • Tao Te Ching 25 — Something formless and complete, existing before heaven and earth.
  • Tao Te Ching 42 — The Tao gave birth to One; One to Two; Two to Three.
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Shinto

From myth and chronicle

Shinto reveres kami — countless sacred presences in mountains, rivers, trees, ancestors and the forces of life, traditionally 'eight million' in number. The Kojiki begins with the emergence of kami at the origin of heaven and earth and tells of Amaterasu, the sun kami. The eighteenth-century scholar Motoori Norinaga defined kami broadly as anything that inspires awe. There is no single creator God in the Abrahamic sense.

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Where traditions overlap

  • Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith converge closely on one formless God beyond human comprehension.
  • Christianity shares that monotheism while affirming the Trinity and incarnation.
  • Hinduism, Taoism and Shinto each speak of an ultimate reality or sacred presence that pervades nature rather than standing wholly outside it.

Where they differ

  • Buddhism teaches no creator God; the other eight affirm God, the Tao or the kami as ultimate.
  • Incarnation is central to Christianity and to Vaishnava Hinduism (avatars) but rejected by Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith.
  • Shinto's kami and Taoism's Tao are not 'God' in the Abrahamic sense; the Guide preserves each tradition's own terms.

Sources

TraditionPassageSummary
ChristianityJohn 4:24
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
'God is spirit.'
Christianity1 John 4:8
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
'God is love.'
ChristianityMatthew 28:19
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
ChristianityJohn 1:1–14
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
The Word was God and became flesh.
IslamQur'an 112:1–4
Quran.com
'Say: He is Allah, One... nor is there to Him any equivalent.'
IslamQur'an 2:255 (Ayat al-Kursi)
Quran.com
The Throne Verse: God's sovereignty and knowledge.
IslamQur'an 59:22–24
Quran.com
The names of God.
IslamQur'an 6:103
Quran.com
Vision cannot grasp Him; He grasps all vision.
JudaismDeuteronomy 6:4
Sefaria
'Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.'
JudaismExodus 3:14
Sefaria
'I am that I am.'
JudaismIsaiah 45:5
Sefaria
'I am the Lord, and there is none else.'
JudaismExodus 20:2–4
Sefaria
No other gods; no graven images.
BuddhismDhammapada 160
Access to Insight, Buddharakkhita
'One is one's own refuge.'
BuddhismBrahmajala Sutta (DN 1)
SuttaCentral, Sujato
Survey of views, including belief in a creator.
BuddhismKevatta Sutta (DN 11)
SuttaCentral, Sujato
A monk questions Brahma about ultimate matters.
HinduismRig Veda 1.164.46
Sacred Texts, Müller SBE
'Truth is one; the wise call it by many names.'
HinduismChandogya Upanishad 6.8.7
Sacred Texts, Müller SBE
'Tat tvam asi.'
HinduismBhagavad Gita 9:4–5
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
God pervades all beings yet is not contained by them.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 10:20
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
'I am the Self seated in the hearts of all creatures.'
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 1 (Mool Mantar)
SikhiToTheMax
'Ik Onkar, Sat Naam, Karta Purakh...'
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 1349 (Bhagat Kabir)
SikhiToTheMax
First God created the light; all beings come from that one light.
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 1136
SikhiToTheMax
'I am neither Hindu nor Muslim... the One God is my Lord.'
Bahá'í FaithGleanings XIX
Bahá'í Reference Library
'God, the unknowable Essence... is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute.'
Bahá'í FaithGleanings XXVII
Bahá'í Reference Library
The Manifestations as mirrors of God's attributes.
Bahá'í FaithKitáb-i-Íqán
Bahá'í Reference Library
Progressive revelation and the unity of the Prophets.
TaoismTao Te Ching 1
ctext.org, Legge
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
TaoismTao Te Ching 25
ctext.org, Legge
Something formless and complete, existing before heaven and earth.
TaoismTao Te Ching 42
ctext.org, Legge
The Tao gave birth to One; One to Two; Two to Three.
ShintoKojiki, Book 1, Sect. I (the beginning of heaven and earth)
Sacred Texts, Chamberlain 1882
The first kami and the creation of the land.
ShintoNihon Shoki, Book 1
Wikisource, Aston 1896
Parallel account of the age of the kami.
ShintoEncyclopedia of Shinto — 'Kami'
Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin
Definitions of kami, including Motoori Norinaga's.

All citations on this page were opened in the linked reference editions and compared with the summaries (last full pass September 12, 2026). Links open at the verse, paragraph or section wherever the edition supports it; otherwise at the chapter or entry. Translations vary; we link to widely used public editions so you can compare. Evidence labels on each perspective follow our editorial standards.

Frequently asked questions

Which religions are monotheistic?

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith affirm one God. Many Hindus also worship one supreme reality, though through many forms.

Do Buddhists believe in God?

Buddhism does not teach a creator God. Devas exist in its cosmology as impermanent beings; liberation depends on one's own practice.

Is the Tao the same as God?

Not in the Abrahamic sense. The Tao is the nameless source and way of all things, not a personal creator; Taoists themselves say it cannot be defined.

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Answers are AI-assisted, drawn from nine traditions and linked to original sources. No account needed.

The Scripture Guide uses artificial intelligence to help organize and explain religious texts and traditions. AI-generated responses may contain errors or omissions. When accuracy is important, consult the original scripture and authoritative sources.